Making sense (and, sometimes, nonsense) out of Current News, Issues, Politics

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Can Capitalism Survive?

Throughout the history of this country, it has been capitalism and not socialism that has made our country strong. We won the Cold War because socialism/communism in Soviet Russia couldn't divert billions of dollars in military spending and still provide for the everyday needs of its citizens. The broad-based, higher standard of living in this country is one of the reasons that so many flood into America as both legal and illegal immigrants. It's the promise of America, the American Dream, and our "American Way" that those who come here seek.

Sadly, we may be on the verge of changing all that. Could this be the "change" that Barack Obama has in store for us?

There is a video that has been circulating on the Internet that clearly shows Barack Obama telling a supporter (a plumber by profession) that we need to "spread the wealth around" (See video). At the same time, Hillary Clinton said last year they she wants to "take the profits from the oil companies" (See Video). Then there was this prophetic comment by Maxine Waters in the umteenth grilling of our oil company executives (See Full Story). Please take note that Ms. Waters clearly caught herself from saying the word "socialize" in her comments. However, the socialization of the oil industry was clearly on her mind. Once it happens with one industry; those who are socialists will attempt to attack every other industry that they have some gripe with. That gripe might be low pay or non-union organization. Too much profit. Too global. Too eco-dirty. And, the list can go on for ever; if you are a socialist.

Those three video clips demonstrate a widespread attitude in the Democratic party. Make no mistake about it, if Barack Obama is elected, we will have a socialistic President and probably the farthest left and most socialistic Congress in the history of this country. I think we should brace ourselves for the impact of that fact. In many ways, capitalism may not survive. Some of the freedoms of this Democracy may not survive. That's because some aspects of Democracy, like full and complete freedom of speech, can hurt the socialist movement and cause. The reward of this government will "not" be to those who contribute the most to the economic success in this country. Instead, this government's focus will be on those on the lower economic and educational scale. Forget personal responsibility. That's the main thrust of a socialist government. It is a belief that capitalism is an evil that suppresses the poor and only enhances and benefits the rich. But, those who believe this to be the case seem to forget how many people in this country, who have started with literally nothing, have built tremendous businesses and have done very well. No other country or system of government can boast of as many success stories. Socialism, in its purest forms, only results in the complete stifling of human ambition and only creates unfulfilled needs in society.

While we were enjoying 5 percent unemployment in 2005, the French, for example, had over 10 percent unemployment and were having riots in the streets and seeing the nightly burning of cars. This was coming from people whose needs of food, clothing, and shelter were clearly being taken care of by the state. But, the system forgot the human spirit and overriding need to accomplish something in life. Not just "suckle" off their government. While you never hear about it to the extent that it occurred in 2005, the nightly burning of cars and mini-riots occur every night in Paris (See Full Story). The welfare system in this country was killed by the Republicans and the Clinton Administration for that very reason. People on welfare lived in it and were locked into it from birth to death. When welfare was finally dissolved 12 years ago, the disasters that the "socialists of the Democratic Party" predicted never happened. Many of the housing projects that grew out of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society were deemed to be failures and have since been abandoned due to the levels of crime and filth.

Now, Barack Obama wants to revive that system by using our tax system to do it. He would accomplish this through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC would give money to those who don't pay taxes and, in many cases, those who don't even work. In fact, a non-working, drug dealer could collect thousands of dollars in EITC rebate checks from our government under Obama's plan.

The worst thing that could have ever have happened, especially at this juncture in our history, is the credit crisis. This crisis will provide "cover" for the socialists of our Democratic-controlled government to do all those anti-capitalistic things they have always wanted to do. They will blame capitalism and not their own socialist meddling in low income mortgages for the rationale behind changing the way business is done in this country. Even our current pro-capitalist President and Treasury Secretary are now in the process of partially nationalizing our banking system (See Full Story). I really question whether or not our system of capitalism can survive under a Barack/Reid/Pelosi government. We'll just have to wait and see.